Accident California Sailplanes BJ-1B Duster VH-UIS,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 219428
 
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Date:Saturday 14 January 1989
Time:14:35
Type:California Sailplanes BJ-1B Duster
Owner/operator:
Registration: VH-UIS
MSN: GFA-HB-86
Fatalities:Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Category:Accident
Location:7km S of Monarto, SA -   Australia
Phase: Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:Private
Departure airport:Monarto, SA
Destination airport:Monarto, SA
Investigating agency: BASI
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
The pilot had recently purchased the glider, and had previously made two short flights in it, for endorsement and familiarisation purposes. On the day of the accident he had trailered the glider to the launching strip, and had then assembled and rigged it for flight. A normal winch launch was carried out, with the glider releasing from the winch at about 1000 feet above the ground. It was then observed to be circling in a thermal, while gaining a further 500 feet of altitude. The angle of bank at this time appeared to be moderately steep. A witness then observed that the nose of the glider dropped and the aircraft commenced to spin to the left. It spun rapidly in a steep nose-down attitude, with occasional pitch oscillations, and recovery was not effected prior to impact with the ground. The subsequent investigation did not reveal any apparent faults or defects with the aircraft which might have led to the development of the accident. In addition, there was no medical evidence to indicate that the pilot was incapacitated or unfit to perform his duties as pilot in command. Although the pilot had received training in spin recognition and recovery techniques, he was possibly unaware that a spin could occur during an apparently normal thermalling turn. It could not be established when he had last performed spinning manoeuvres.

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: BASI
Report number: 
Status: Investigation completed
Duration:
Download report: Final report

Sources:

https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/1989/aair/aair198902534/
https://www.atsb.gov.au/media/27872/aair198902534.pdf

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
13-Dec-2018 14:57 Pineapple Added

Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description

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